Detroit School Kids ‘Scared To Death’ By Lunch Hour Police Raid

DETROIT (WWJ) – Detroit Police Chief James Craig says a drug raid near a west side elementary school should not have happened.

Students at Pasteur Elementary were outside on the playground when officers executed a search warrant, Tuesday afternoon, at a house across the street.

Shots were fired at a pair of pit bull dogs but no one was hurt.

A note was sent to parents by Principal Sharon Lawson.

“Today at lunchtime, the police did a raid at a house across from the school,” Lawson wrote. “When we saw the police at the house, we quickly signaled for the students on the playground to be brought into the school. As students were coming in, they heard shots and some started to run into the school. All the students were safe and accounted for.”

Ronald Lawrence, with the Justice For Aiyanna Jones Committee, is among those in the community speaking out against what happened.

“Children were scrambling and running for their lives across the playground,” said Lawrence. “And parents were terrified that, if the Detroit police had this raid on their schedule, that they didn’t put the school on lockdown; in fact, that they had to do it in the middle of the day, when school was in session.”

Lawrence said, at the very least, police should have notified school officials.

“No one was alerted. They came in, did their raid, [guns were] fired, and children were scared to death,” he said. “Physically, I understand no one was hurt, but I’m sure a mental scar will be with a lot of these children for a long time.”

Chief Craig, on the job since June, said the department will make some changes in its search warrant process.

Officers recovered weapons and $315,000 worth of narcotics from the home. The occupants were arrested.